Daniel
M. Salton, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the
brief, were George Jepsen, attorney general, and Benjamin
Zivyon, assistant attorney general, for the appellee
(petitioner).

Lavine, Alvord and Schaller, Js.

OPINION

ALVORD, J.

The
respondent mother, Laura F., appeals from the judgment of the
trial court, rendered in favor of the petitioner, the
Commissioner of Children and Families, terminating her
parental rights with respect to her daughter, Lilyana
P.[1]
On appeal, the respondent claims that the court (1)
improperly determined, in accordance with General Statutes
§ 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i), that the petitioner had
proven by clear and convincing evidence that Lilyana
previously was adjudicated neglected and that the respondent
had failed to achieve a sufficient degree of personal
rehabilitation to encourage a belief that she could assume a
responsible position in Lilyana's life within a
reasonable period of time, and (2) violated her substantive
due process rights ‘‘because [she] was recovering
from a disabling medical condition that had prevented her
from rehabilitating as a parent.'' We affirm the
judgment of the trial court.

The
record reveals the following relevant facts, which are
uncontested or were found by the trial court, and procedural
history. The respondent, as a child, suffered from neglect,
as well as physical and sexual abuse. Because of the abuse,
the respondent was mentally unstable, which led to her three
month hospitalization in the fall of 1995. At that time, when
the respondent was nine years old, she was diagnosed with
impulsive control disorder, mood disorder, obsessive
compulsive traits, and attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder.

The
respondent graduated from high school, but her only reported
employment occurred in 2008. She has never been married. In
2005, her first child was born, who is in the care of his
paternal aunt and the aunt's mother as co-guardians. In
2008, her second child was born, and a transfer of
guardianship to that child's maternal aunt and uncle was
granted in 2010. The children have different biological
fathers.

The
respondent has a significant history of substance abuse.
While she was together with the father of her second child,
she and the father used cocaine. They spent between $40, 000
and $50, 000 on cocaine and alcohol, which depleted her
grandmother's savings account and his trust fund. The
respondent stopped using cocaine when she became pregnant
with her second child in 2007.

In
April, 2009, the respondent suffered multiple injuries in a
serious automobile accident. While hospitalized, she was
exposed to and became a carrier of Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). She weighed more than 225
pounds when she was released from the hospital, and has had
mobility issues as a result of her injuries and the loss of
her calf muscle due to MRSA. Additionally, the respondent is
prone to kidney infections, herniated discs, and migraine
headaches.

In
November, 2012, the respondent met Bryan P., the father of
her third child, Lilyana. She became pregnant shortly after
they met, and Lilyana was born in August, 2013. At the time
of her birth, Lilyana had benzodiaze-pines and opiates in her
system and was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. When the
respondent indicated that she was going to remove Lilyana
from the hospital against medical advice, a call was placed
to the Department of Children and Families (department).
Lilyana was released to her parents' care, however, after
they agreed to cooperate with the department.

In
April, 2014, the petitioner filed for an order of temporary
custody because of ongoing concerns about the parents'
substance abuse, their refusal to allow the department access
to Lilyana, and their revocation of the releases they
previously had signed allowing the department to communicate
with service providers for them and Lilyana. Among the
department's concerns, the respondent had visited various
emergency rooms, which were not affiliated with her health
care providers, seeking opiates. She also has a history of
abusing prescription medications. On the scheduled date of
the hearing on the petitioner's application, the parties
reached an agreement, and Lilyana was returned to her
parents. Specific steps were approved by the court on April
30, 2014, which included orders that the respondent was to
have supervised contact only with Lilyana, and the parents
were to enroll Lilyana in a child care facility at the
department's expense.

In
July, 2014, the respondent participated in a court-ordered
psychological evaluation by Edward Rabe, M.D., Ph.D., who is
an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry. Having missed
her first scheduled appointment with Dr. Rabe, the respondent
arrived an hour late for the second appointment. Her
diagnosis at that time was mood disorder, post-traumatic
stress disorder, and opiate abuse in remission. Dr. Rabe
noted the respondent's history of substance abuse,
including use of cocaine, and her intermittent use of opiates
that had been prescribed during emergency room visits. He
found her mental status evaluation to be
‘‘unremarkable, with the exception of her
relative lack of insight and judgment related to her
minimization of the significance of obtaining pain
medications from prescribers who are not members of her
treatment team, and her failure to recognize the ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.